Device for closing sheet-metal seams.



J. L. HEMP.

DEVICE FOR CLOSING SHEET METAL SEAMS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 14, 1913.

Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

[$1 if N main-in sates eraser WHERE;

aosnrn L. HEMP, or s r. Louis, MISSOURI.

DEVICE. FOR CLOSING SHEET-METAL Application fiieri il'uly is, 1913.

To aZZ 110730772, it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH L. Harr a citizen of the United tit-ates, and resident of St. Louis, Missouri, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Devices for Closing Sheet-Metal Seams, of which the following is a Specification containing a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to improvements in devices for closing sheet metal seams, and is designed primarily for closing the seams of stove pipe joints, and the object of my invention is to construct a device comprising a pair of jaws one of which is arranged to be moved relative to the. other, and constructed in such manner that with a single operation a seam of a joint of pipe may be closed by pressure throughout the length of the seam.

With the above purposes in view my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claims and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation of a device embodying my invention and showing a joint of pipe therein and the device in a position after the seam has been closed; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan taken approximately on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an elevation on a reduced scale of my improved device in an open. position; and Fig. A} is an enlarged transverse sectional elevation taken on the line of Fig. 3, looking toward the operating handle.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings: 5 designates the bracket or base of my device which is arranged to be secured to a fixed upright by means of the lag screws (3. Adjacent the lower end of the bracket there is an integral housing 7 which is open on the side opposite the fixed upright and in which is secured a fixed horizontal jaw 8. The jaw S is preferably secured to the housing 7 so that it maybe readily removed therefrom, and extending through the jaw and said housing there is a set screw 9. At theupper end of the housing is a pair of spaced apart arms 10 having relatively broad inside faces between which there is mounted for movement a jaw 11 upon a pivot 12. At the top of the bracket there is a hook 13 and arranged be- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Get. 1..

Serial IEO. 773,942.

tween the hook 'and the jaw 11 there is a contractile coil spring 14: which is arranged to normally hold the jaw 11 in a plane above the jaw 8. At the outer end of the jaw 11 there is pivotally secured a pail of links 15 and pivotally secured to the links is a cam 16 having an operating lever 17. Arranged upon the periphery of the cam 16 there is a stop 18 which limits the movement o-f the cam and its operating handle. Asshown in liig, 3, the upper face of the lower jaw 8 13 straight and is preferably held in a horizontal position, while the lower face of the j aw 11 is curved and is normally held above the jawv 8 by the spring 14. hen the device 1S at rest the links 15 and the cam and its operating handle are thrown to positions resting upon the top of the upper jaw 11, thus leaving the lower aw 8 free to receive a joint of pipe.

19-19 designates arms which are secured to the underneath face of the jaw 8 by means of a set screw 20. Each of these arms is preferably constructed of a single piece of material having a slotted body and to permit of relative adjustment of the two pieces. The office of these arms is to provide supports for the stove pipe joint at approximately diametrically opposite points to prevent a canting or rolling .of the stove pipe joint.

In the practical operation of the machine, assuming the device to be in the position just described, a joint of pipe with its seam partially closed is inserted over the lowerj aw 8. The operator then grasps the lever 17 and moves the links and the lever to the position shown in Fig. 3, the lever is then moved to the position shown in Fig. 1 which, by reason of the cam and links, draws the upper jaw 11 downwardly with suliicient force to straighten out the upper jaw to make its lower face parallel with the upper face of the lower jaw, thereby causinga complete closure of the seam of the stove pipe joint in a single operation by exerting pressureupon the seam throughout its length.

The two jaws 8 and 11 are of substantially the same dimensions, but are preferably made of metals which permit the one to bend and the other to remain rigid or straight when pressure is applied thereto. the rigid jaw being made of cast steel and the yielding jaw of cast'iron, the iron jaw being susceptible to bending and the steel jaw non-bendable.

By the employment of such a device a perfect seam is made without indentations usually resultant from the employment of the ordinary anvil or mallet, or such like tool. n p

I claim a 1. In a device for closing sheet meta seams, a jaw having a straightoperating margin, a second elastic jaw having a normally curved operating margin, and means for moving one of the jaws toward the other jaw so that the jaw having the curvedface will be straightened out for the purposes stated.

g 2. In a machine for closing sheet metal seams, a bracket, a housing carried by said bracket, a pair of arms projecting laterally from said housing, a'jaw, having a straight face, rigidly yet detachably secured to said housing, a second, elastic, jaw having a curved face pivotally secured to said housing between said arms, a'spring arranged between said bracket and said pivoted jaw for normally holding said jaw removed from the fixed jaw, a link secured to the outer end of said pivotedjaw, a cam pivotally secured to said link, and an operating lever -for said cam.

3. In a machine for closing sheet metal seams, a bracket, a housing carried by said bracket, a pair'of arms projecting laterally from said housing, a jaw, having a straight face, rigidly yet detachably secured to said housing, a second jaw having a curved face pivotally secured to said housing between said arms, a spring arranged between said bracket and said pivoted jaw for normally holding said jaw removed from the fixed jaw, a link secured to the outer end of said pivoted jaw, a cam pivotelly secured to said link, an operating lever for said cam, and

an adjustable device secured to the fixed jaw for engagement with the article bearing the seam to prevent movement of the article relative to the machine. a 1

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name tothis specification, in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' JOSEPH L. HEMP.

Witnesses: I V

EDW'ARD E. LONGAN, E. L. WALLACE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. 

